Praying For Bases

"We're ready to leave the depot - honest!"

Well, here's hoping the mystical power of the blogosphere can influence the karma of the postal delivery system.  I have finished another batch of 28mm Austrian line infantry - my first unit from Victrix - and all they need now are some bases.  If they can get here today (or tomorrow), these troops can join my doomed Austrian column for the game this weekend in Regina.

Running out of bases happens to me a lot.  Normal hobbyists can just cut new bases for themselves.  Incompetent ones like me, who barely manage to build a simple model, should not try this, unless the rules in question allow for the "crescent-shaped-'L'" formation instead of lines and columns.  I generally rely on Likto Aerosystems for my basing needs.  Their products are outstanding, but the delivery times have stretched to epic lengths.  I now refer to a project stalled for lack of basing materials as being at the "Litko State".

This time, for a change, I'm waiting on the good folks at Wargames Accessories.  I hope the scary variables, including the USPS, the spectacular cretins at Canada Customs, and the mindless incompetence of Canada Post, have not found some way to deep-six the delivery....it's a wonder that any packages make it anywhere at times...

Heavy Infantry Sniper for Gün Schwarm

"So many FuturKommers to choose from...."

This weekend was positive for sports, with one Jets game for the NHL and the conference finals for the NFL, perfect background noise to add a few more odds and ends.  Up first is this 28mm Cadian sniper model from GW, which I have painted Gün Schwarm colours.


You would be surprised at how bent this gun managed to get in the blister...



Camouflage tarp, unlikely to help in the urban settings where this guy will see 3/4 of his action, but screw that - I liked this pattern better

"Boy, this rock sure is handy for lining up shots...."

The Güns do have one sniper already - a bit of a rough-hewn conversion of a Steel Legion trooper (see below).  But I have always liked the newer GW guard sniper models - actual troops with rifles, instead of frigging ratlings - and I found his armour plates matched the armour plates of the Kasrkin models, so I figured he would be the heavy infantry sniper, going into the field to support his armoured colleagues with special, anti-everything Gün Schwarm ammunition.

"Regular" sniper on left - a pretty rough conversion.  The new model looks like the real deal...

I see the "regular" dude as less of a sniper, and more as a marksman with a sniper rifle who is still attached to a regular fireteam.  This guy with the heavier rifle would be more of the detached, hide-in-a-pit-somewhere-waiting-for-the-shot type of sniper, ready to make life even more miserable for the hapless conscripts of FuturKom.

It's always neat to have the snipers operate in teams - the plastic GW Cadians do not replicate the Kasrkin armoured plates, but perhaps with some very minor conversion, I can kit bash a spotter-type model for this guy. I'll check the bits pile tonight...

6mm FUBAR force

One thing about our group of gamers, is the variety and insanity of the multitudinous projects we're all working on.  Back in November, Greg sprang 6mm skirmish gaming on us, and it looked so cool I had to jump in with a force (one hesitates to call 30-odd 6mm models an "army") of my own.

My infantry consists of 24 power armoured suits, organized into three sections of seven, and a three-man command section. The power armour troops are the very Ma.K.-like  castings available from Brigade Models. Incidentally, I hear tell that these models may be available in 15mm in the not-too-distant future... if so, I am down to clown like Charlie Brown ;-)

This is the command section, distinguished by the "skull" motif painted on their armour. A stripe on each arm indicates Lieutenant rank and platoon command. Right-arm stripe distinguishes NCOs in the command element, while squad leaders have a stripe on their left arms.

Sections are designated by letter; this platoon consists of "K", "R" and "S" sections, names for the first initial of the squad leader.

Transport provided by the Fliegende Schuhkartons (models from Ground Zero Games)

Heavy support grav tanks from GZG as well. The grav vehicles in the force are supported on their bases by small metal pieces from Brigade Models.

Medium grav tanks also from GZG. I have to say that I was not terrifically impressed by the quality of the GZG casts I received. The heavy tanks and flyers especially suffered from heavy flash and indistinct detail in places. The flyers in particular looked like they had been pulled from damaged moulds, as the areas around the engines was pretty messed up. I fixed them as best as I could with paint.

Pretty difficult to get the paint details to photograph in 6mm! Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting these guys on the table. I imagine that they're a mercenary force, as there is no national or corporate insignia on the vehicles or suits. The platoon is lead by Leutnant Ziegler and is currently under contract to 769855 Terra Inc., a numbered company subsidiary of ZaxxonMobil Corp. Perhaps ZaxxonMobil also has an interest in the geological activities underway on Colony 24601? Only time will tell...

"Star Wars... nothing but Star Wars..."

Trying to keep up the blog routine, thought I would post some recently completed models given to me for Christmas by my wife! These are some "fleet-scale" (1:10,000) resin Star Wars ship models from Odyssey Slipways. Left to right, these are the Rebel assault Frigate, Imperial Dreadnaught, and Carrack cruisers.

I painted the ships using a black undercoat and for the Imperial ships, a basecoat of Codex Grey highlighted with Fortress Grey, a Badab Black wash, and re-highlight of Fortress Grey followed by a light drybrush of Fortress mixed with Skull White. The Rebel ship was basecoated Graveyard Earth and highlighted Bleached Bone mixed with Graveyard, washed with Devlan Mud and re-highlighted. Engines were painted Ice Blue.

 

These are some generic metal cargo freighters I picked up from Brigade Models as a tag-along to a small order of 6mm stuff. They will be used as civilian or transport craft in our games. They were painted similar to the Imperial ships.

 

I really enjoy Odyssey's range of resin Star Wars ships. They are easy to assemble and don't require a lot of clean up, and of course, are a snap to paint with ample surface detail. I look forward to gaming with them in the near future!

Battle Report - Tomorrow's War - So THAT's How It Works...

View of the table at the conclusion of last night's game of Tomorrow's War

Last night we gave "Tomorrow's War" another go.  Our first attempt at the game was less than satisfying, as were the first attempts of others, it seems. But Ambush Alley can't have all those fans out there for no reason, and Conscript Mike A insisted (politely) that we would probably figure it out if we read "Force on Force" instead. So we did - and he was right! We tried Tomorrow's War again last night, and it was a lot a fun!

The objective - a disabled T-640 tank - sits in the middle of a 4' x 4' table

A T-340 burning away in the village, victim of the LuftSchwarm

LZ marker for the Gün Schwarm VTOL

The scenario was set on a 4'x4' table, with arid terrain and a village consistent with the vaguely post-pre-post-apocalyptic setting we enjoy for our home-grown sci-fi factions.  The setting was a big FuturKom counter-offensive on the world of Dnieper VII.  The Gün Schwarm faction was in retreat, but its air assets had managed to really stick it to a FuturKom armoured column.  Seeing the column in distress, TruKom rebels pounced and launched an attack.  Seeing that attack, Gün Schwarm command decided send in some troops.

FuturKom officer, lackey (right) and medical bot

FuturKom Motor Fuzileers before the fight - beautiful figures from Pig Iron Productions

Close up of a FuturKom fireteam - Dallas did an amazing job with these figures

The goal for the Gün side was to get to the disabled T-640 heavy tank (set in the middle of the table), gather some intelligence from it (what guns sights does it use? does it have a docking station compatible with the iPhone 400s?), and then blow it up.  The FuturKom survivors had to protect the tank, so it could be repaired later and sent back to the front.  The game length would be six turns.

Gün Schwarm side before the battle

Close up of the "TruKom" rebels - Kolony Rebel figures from Pig Iron Productions

Gün regulars, with heavy infantry to the left, just out of the shot

Futurkom had four six-man fireteams, a commander and a medical bot.  They also had a surviving BTR-800 APC.  Quality was D8 all around, with D10 morale.  On the Gün side, the TruKom rebels had two five-man fire teams, with D6 quality but D12 morale (in other words, fanatically ineffective).  The Gün regulars consisted of two four-man heavy infantry fire teams, a commander with medical bot/skull and extra special weapon trooper, and a five-man team of regular grenadiers.  They had a VTOL with light armament (4D8 AP) for transport. Quality for the Gün regulars was D8, with D10 morale.  The heavy infantry had stronger armour (2D) and laser weapons that made their optimum range 12" instead of 8".  Everyone's tech level was 2, and confidence was normal for all.

FuturKom occupies some cover - the CO keeps things running from the courtyard



FuturKom troops cover the street while the Gün VTOL buzzes the battle area



TruKom rebels get ready to move out

Dallas took command of his Kommulist Forces, while Brian and I took command of the Gün Schwarm side.  Brian was given control of the TruKom rebels - I think he thought that was cool until he learned they were only D6 quality, but full credit to him for fighting onward. Then I told him they were poorly supplied too...

TruKom fireteam showing the effects of heavy fire from FuturKom troops

These Gün heavy infantry would end up isolated as the VTOL was driven off, and suffer a "negative outcome" i.e. getting blasted to pieces

Another FuturKom fireteam, blazing away at the enemy

The Kommers got to start two fireteams on the board - others would walk on in the second turn.  Brian then set up the two TruKom units anywhere at least 8" away from the Kommers.  The Gün regulars would start trying to arrive via VTOL on the first turn - the VTOL had three marked LZs to choose from. The Güns would start with initiative.

TruKom rebels taking cover near some handy Kommulist-themed containers - Brian would roll Vegas on the first aid checks to keep these guys alive

FuturKom fireteam moves out into the street after the building gets a bit too hot...

It was a sharp, heavy firefight from the outset.  Brian's two rebel fireteams got into it right away, trying to advance on Dallas' troops.  It wasn't long until models on both sides were being tipped over.  My VTOL made an attempt on an LZ, and managed to unload just one fireteam before it was driven off.  Isolated and alone, this fireteam would ultimately be doomed.

 Gün heavy infantry fireteam confronted by the BTR-800 - it would end in tears for the Güns

On the second turn, one of Brian's fireteams was totally wiped out - they would lay there for a few turns until we got some medical help to them.  But the VTOL landed and managed to get the balance of the heavy infantry out into a good position, and they started to hit some Kom fireteams pretty hard. The VTOL, however, was hit by fire and forced to land, effectively knocking it out.

Gün VTOL forced to make a hard landing thanks to heavy fire by the FuturKom troopers

Gün regulars move out to try and support the TruKom rebels

Dallas rolled quite a few "1"s during his reaction tests, and so the Fog of War cards came out a lot.  A couple of these were benign - "the weather clears", but most of these were a big hassle for Dallas.  He lost one guy to a booby trap.  Another card turned one of his buildings into "Swiss cheese", which made it easy for me to mow down the troops inside. But it went both ways - I lost one of my squads to a misplaced mortar strike - and rolled Vegas to basically wipe them out - and Dallas got to have one of his fireteams go "in the zone", improving to D10 quality and D12 morale for a turn.

Worst. Reaction Rolls. Ever. Where is that Fog Of War deck?

There was one chain of action where we all rolled "1"s for the three teams involved!  This series of events cost me a heavy infantry fireteam due to mortars, and cost Dallas his cover.  Sigh.

Gün heavy infantry gets zapped by their own mortars...my best rolling the whole game, unfortunately

This building suddenly became way less effective cover for the Kommers, and I was able to wipe out the fireteam - but the medical bot brought them back next turn....darn it!

We did shoot up a few of Dallas' teams, but we never managed to get moving, as I continuously blew Overwatch checks.  The heavy infantry didn't manage to "get it together". By turn the end of turn six we were nowhere close to our objectives, while Dallas had covered his.  We didn't get near the T-640, while Dallas had put several of our fireteams below half-strength and shot down the VTOL.  Our standout achievement was to severely damage the BTR-800. Decisive win for FuturKom.

FuturKom fireteam covering the T-640 - the BTR-800 (in the background, at the right) has moved on to engage other targets

Gün heavy troops pour fire out into the streets...

Gün AT launcher engages the BTR-800 in the distance - they would manage to immobilize it...

I still screwed up several things - for example, I think I missed some modifiers that should have made it easier for Dallas to get the initiative back, meaning Dallas never managed to win the initiative.   I goofed on the interpretation of who can react to what in the end phase.  I'm pretty sure I screwed up a bit with the VTOL. We didn't try to check if seriously-wounded guys got hit again. We kept forgetting to try suppressive fire (which is something that might have really helped our side out). And I often forgot about Brian's guys being poorly supplied.  But whatever, I still loved it.  The scenario was fun, the terrain was fun, and the models were great. 

TruKom rebels engage the BTR-800, knocking out the main gun

FuturKom Officer - "Well, we're all seriously wounded, but job well done!"

Here are some thoughts on the rules now that we have a second (and much better) game under our belt.

Thoughts On The Good Stuff
Most games go much better once you understand WTF you are doing, and this was no exception.  The action/reaction sequence is very cool.  With a little planning and coordination (and not losing your overwatch reaction checks) you can move around the table and cover your own units.  This is far and away the coolest aspect of these rules, and makes for a very, very enjoyable gaming experience.  Looking back I can already see the mistakes I made by not getting my different fireteams organized to work together a little more.  The one heavy infantry fireteam which ended up isolated (and then hit by random mortars...oh well) would have made a huge difference for the rest of our troops, but just ended up getting zapped by a hot LZ.

I also enjoy the constant firefights.  You throw buckets of dice (which I love, although that's not for everyone) and everybody gets to shoot a LOT, in just one turn, which I think is fun. The game was only six turns, but we were blazing away at each other for practically the whole game.

The medic/medical bot aspect is neat - with the medical assets around, units can hang around longer, and keep fighting.

I also enjoyed the Fog-Of-War cards.  It helped that these mostly plagued Dallas :) but they are pretty neat, and didn't affect the game in an excessive way.

Thoughts On The "Meh" Stuff
I have mixed feelings on the casualties.  I have seen several other reviews where the players have remarked  one way or the other on this too.  For all of the shooting, there were perhaps five models KIA on Dallas' side, and maybe six on our side, for about 11 out of almost 52 infantry models.  Now - is that "right"? I'm not sure. 

To be clear, this is still 250% better than a 40k game, where the casualties are something like 90% (100% when I play against Dave V's Eldar), and yet somehow neither side breaks, and there are three or four models still on the table at the end of the game, which always feels stupid to me. Besides, what do I really know about the "right" level of casualties? 

Removing models by the bunch is just something I'm used to in gaming, so the approach taken by Tomorrow's War is really different from my perspective.  By keeping the seriously wounded troops with the unit, you do think of the game a little differently, and I credit the Ambush Alley guys for going with a system that makes the players think/act much more like "real" regular soldiers would with regard to injured comrades. They would be cared for, protected and evacuated, and not just flicked away to make room for a sweeping advance move. 

I guess it just seemed like the repeated accumulation of serious wounds in a unit should have had...some kind of worse outcome.  Just not sure what it is.  Maybe a fireteam with two serious wounds needs to do a TQ check to do anything, even return fire....who knows...but something.  All in all, I think this is something I will get used to once I play the game more.  Not a big negative, just very different.

Thoughts On The Not-So-Good Stuff
No question we had a way, way better experience with last night's game than our first game.  But I feel there are still some serious challenges with these rules.

First of all, it's a lot of "red tape" for a skirmish game - who is wounded, who is seriously wounded, who has moved once, who hasn't, who has fired, how many times have they fired etc.  You are keeping track of a lot of stuff for a small game.  You will need a number markers/chits for the tabletop. This is not the end of the world, but it will serve as significant check on the size of the game you can have. And not everyone likes a tabletop cluttered in chits.

A big bugaboo, in my view, is the separation of getting hit by fire and determining the results of those hits.  Considering that you are taking morale checks all the time in the middle of the turn, waiting until the next turn to see how bad the hit was just does not make any sense to me. The first aid checks should happen right after the round of fire is complete, and before the next activation.

Last, and most significant, remains the confusing structure and organization of the rulebook itself.  I simply did not understand "Tomorrow's War" until we read "Force On Force".  Tomorrow's War reads like you already know the rules - like you are all already "in" on the game. The fact that we would read a second set of rules just to understand the first set is a strong testament to the positives in this game. "Tomorrow's War" already appears to enjoy a very strong following (and we now see why). A properly organized version of the "Tomorrow's War" rules would surely draw exponentially more  new interest from gamers!

A final bit - this game need a proper and well-thought-out QRS sheet.  This is a good start, but doesn't quite cut it.

Conclusion
With the riddle of the rules unlocked, Tomorrow's War is a lot of fun.  It is a very engaging, firefight-packed game. I look forward to trying it again with the group sometime!

Thanks to Dallas and Brian for coming out to game last night, and to Dallas for bringing along his awesome FuturKom guys and vehicles!

A Word from Dallas

Great report, Greg, and thanks for hosting the game. I don't really have a lot to add, except to echo your comment that this go-through was MUCH better than the first one. TW makes a lot out of its ability to simulate "asymmetric" encounters but as I found in the first game, and Brian saw last night, d8 guys vs. d6 guys is generally not a lot of fun for the d6'ers. This is exacerbated to some degree by the difficulty of putting a man down in TW. Crap hordes vs. a few good troops works better (psychologically) in a game like 40K, where stuff dies. The horde player can feel good about getting a few kills on the other guy, and the good troops will kill horde monsters by the truckload.

But TW is more realistic... not everybody who gets hit will die, be seriously wounded, or even get a boo-boo, for Pete's sake. So it's a bit more cerebral and less visceral an exercise to "see how you're doing" when most of the guys you knocked down stand straight back up again.

I am also growing to be somewhat of a convert to the "reaction" system (as opposed to IGO-UGO). Limiting the number and quality of "reactions" is key, though, especially when the battle is asymmetrical. I enjoyed the way we played last night - that Initiative units were not allowed reactions once the non-Initiative units starting doing stuff at the end of the turn. "You had your chance to act - could have gone on Overwatch if you wanted - now it's our turn." TW allows a bit more "reaction" from the Initiative units so we'll have to consider that.

All in all a great evening's gaming!